In the darkest days after the Sept. 11 attacks, when confusion ruled in lower Manhattan and beyond, FDNY Chief Daniel Nigro knew one thing for sure: He could always count on his friend and colleague Steve Mosiello.

Tuesday, as he spoke to family and friends gathered in Farmingdale for Mosiello's funeral Mass, Nigro described his FDNY partner as a source of strength in the days, months and years since the attacks.

"Let me say right now that I never would have been able to survive the 12 months following 9/11 without Steve," Nigro said as he delivered the eulogy for Mosiello at St. Kilian Roman Catholic Church.

Mosiello, a retired executive officer of the chief of the New York City Fire Department, died Friday of esophageal cancer at a Melville hospice. He was 58.

The cancer is classified by the FDNY as presumed to be linked to Mosiello's work in the recovery effort at Ground Zero after the attacks.

"He did his duty, he conducted himself with honor and he served his country," Nigro said. "He gave his life for his country."

Nigro recalled how he, Mosiello and Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. responded after the attacks together, racing across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to the World Trade Center site.

Ganci, raised in Farmingdale and at one time a volunteer for the Farmingdale Fire Department, didn't make it back alive. He was killed when the south tower collapsed.

Nigro, like others at the funeral, also took a moment to remember Mosiello as a loving husband and father, a dedicated firefighter, a dear friend and a man who lived with gusto.

FDNY Chief of Department Edward Kilduff attended the Mass. He called Mosiello an integral part of the department who helped move it forward after the 9/11 attacks.

"Steve was a organizer, he was an operator. He knew where to go, who to talk to and what to do," Kilduff said.

Nigro called Mosiello a dear friend who readily gave his friendship to others.

"I'm sure there are 20 people I can identify here today who think they were Steve's best friend," he said. "All of them are right because he treated us all in a special way."